The present invention relates to jewelry, and particularly to rings, bracelets, and necklaces, which can be easily modified for esthetic purposes and which provides for the protection of mounted gems or other valuable decoration on the jewelry.
Pieces of jewelry which provide for the protection of valuable gems or other components of the piece are well know. Examples of these can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 1,885,930, in which a ring is fully covered to protect the ring from harm and Great Britain Pat. Spec. 985,078, showing a moveable bracelet watch covering. Other jewelry may be altered for appearance purposes using removable components, as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,045 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,557. Still other jewelry, for example U.S. Pat. No. 2,223,657, has moveable parts designed to allow for hidden compartments. However, these prior jewelry constructions fail to provide for easy and reliable transformation of rings, bracelets, and the like from one use mode to another, to rapidly modify shape, function, and appearance.